Cotto still a possiblity for Pacquiao

By Allen Fox: Despite the talk of Timothy Bradley being the likely next opponent for WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao to fight on June 9th, fellow Top Rank fighter Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KO’s) still remains very much alive in the hunt for the Pacquiao fight.

Cotto is obviously the No.1 choice for Arum and Pacquiao now that Mayweather Jr. has been eliminated by Arum as a potential option for Pacquiao. Cotto brings the most money, if not the best fight. However, he’s been refusing to agree to drain himself down to fight Pacquiao at 147lbs.

There’s talk that Arum is trying to get Pacquiao to agree to fight Cotto will fight with at a catchweight of 149lbs rather than the 150 catchweight that Cotto was asking for. It’s a decent number and it shouldn’t hurt either fighter in big way to make this fight.

Pacquiao is pretty stubborn about not bending for his opponents so it’s difficult to see Arum pulling off this agreement because it seems to a status thing for Pacquiao not to give in.

If Pacquiao doesn’t agree to meet Cotto at the tiny catchweight that’s being talked about, then it’s doubtful that Cotto will agree to drain down to 147lbs because he took a bad beating against Pacquiao last time he agreed to fight him at a catchweight of 145lbs in 2009.

Back then, Cotto was fighting at 147 but he was coming in right at 147 and it seemed to hurt him to come in lower. He fights at 154 now, and it’s asking a lot for him to get down to 147. He’s not Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., a fighter that drains down to 160lbs for his fights and then rehydrates up to 180-185lbs for his fights. Cotto can’t do that Chavez Jr. is a rare fighter that can take that kind of weight off.

Pacquiao has got to give in this once to make the Cotto fight happen. The alternative of Pacquiao facing Bradley is a much less interesting fight, although are horrible mismatches.